1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to lighting, light fixtures, pendent light fixtures, sconce light fixtures and LED lighting, and more particularly, to a threaded light emitting diode (LED) retrofit module. In various embodiments, the LED based lighting module can be retrofitted into existing pendent or sconce light fixtures.
2. Description of the Related Art
Incandescent light bulbs are used in a large variety of lighting products. Although inexpensive to purchase, incandescent light bulbs have several drawbacks. First, incandescent light bulbs use a relatively large amount of power compared to other lighting products which increase energy costs. Second, incandescent light bulbs have a short life causing repetitive replacement costs. Furthermore, since theses bulbs have a short life, labor costs will subsequently be effected by having maintenance personnel constantly replace the bulbs.
Recently, a trend in the lighting industry is to develop light emitting diode (LED) light modules that can be easily adapted to current light fixture products. LED technology offers more than twice the energy efficiency of traditional incandescent bulbs and has 20-30 times the reliability. While LED technology is generally more expensive, there can be a substantial savings in bulb replacement and maintenance costs over a 5-year or greater life-cycle.
There are a very large number of existing light fixture types produced by many lighting OEMs that use a glass or plastic shade secured with a standard threaded bulb socket. There is a great desire of these OEMs to have a means to convert these fixtures from incandescent or CFL to LED technology without modifying the basic fixture or shade structure. This is because a great deal of investment has been made in design and tooling of these fixtures. A single lighting manufacturer may have hundreds of fixture types when considering style, size and finishes.
It is very difficult to design a standard Edison style LED lamp to replace the existing lamp because of size constraints and thermal management requirements of LEDs. A conventional socket (e.g. made from ceramic, plastic, etc.) usually is designed to insulate the light fixture from the heat of an incandescent lamp, where with LEDs it is desirable to conduct the heat from the LEDs into the host light fixture.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a means to replace the existing standard plastic or ceramic threaded socket and light bulb with a device that: (1) has an LED light source and tailored optics; (2) transfers the heat generated by the LED light source to the light fixture; and (3) has a threaded outside surface to accommodate a standard retention ring that holds in place the glass or plastic lamp shade.